Upfront Adds Venture Partner

The Santa Monica investment firm announced Thursday that entrepreneur Hamet Watt will join the Upfront team as a venture partner.

Watt has co-founded several companies, including New York subscription service MoviePass. He currently serves as chairman of MoviePass and heath startup bLife.

As a venture partner, Watt will work part-time for Upfront and make investment decisions.

Mark Suster, the co-managing director at Upfront, wrote in a blog post that Watt will bring his startup experience to Upfront's investment decisions.

"I've considering Hamet a friend and inspiration for years," he wrote. "Now we have the opportunity to work more closely together along with the rest of the team at Upfront to build something special in L.A."

Upfront, which recently changed its name from GRP Partners and moved into new digs in Santa Monica, has been slowly growing its roster of partners. The firm added Greg Bettinelli – who has worked at eBay, HauteLook and StubHub – as a venture partner in the spring.

Suster explained in his post that the firm has been looking to add investors with experience starting and running companies.

"We have been on a drive to add more operational partners," he wrote. "Our founder, Yves Sisteron, himself was an entrepreneur earlier in his career and has been a mentor to us all at VC having backed too many billion dollar exits to name."